March 19, 2020 12:00 p.m. 
The number of cases of COVID-19 has grown to 88 in Oregon as of Thursday.
Information from the Oregon Health Authority, said 13 new cases have been reported.
Those include 5 cases in Marion County, 4 in Multnomah County, and 2 each in Linn and Washington counties.
Douglas County has only had 1 reported case of COVID 19.
OHA, together with the Oregon Military Department is assembling the Oregon Medical Station starting Friday at the Salem Fairgrounds. The OMS is a temporary mobile facility dedicated to use in emergency situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. The facility will provide an alternate site for 250 patients currently in nursing home care.
The OHA release said the OMS is one component of Oregon’s larger emergency preparedness plan. The facility includes:
*Beds, pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and equipment to support 250 patients.
*It will be staffed by members of the State Emergency Registry of Volunteers in Oregon and the Oregon Disaster Medical Team.
*It will have staffing for 24/7 operations.
*It will be housed in the Jackson Long building at the Salem Fairgrounds, in a state-owned building.
*The facility will use dedicated supplies that have been stored in Salem.
Military members from the OMD, SERV-OR and ODMT have previous joint training experience for disaster-type events. All three groups have participated in an annual exercise known as Pathfinder-Minuteman, which presents multiple scenarios where first responders have casualties in need of immediate medical treatment.